A Cold Stare
by phoenixreal
Summary: Alt Universe Modern: When Gray Fullbuster moves to LA, he has a lot of trouble finding a job and a place for himself. He answers an ad looking for cam models, and thinks it might be something he could do for the kind of money it offers. Before he's even had his first show, he finds a mysterious person on the community chatroom. Yaoi/Noncon/Violence
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A Chilling View

When Gray Fullbuster moved to Los Angeles, he wasn't sure what he'd do to make a living. He started out working part time jobs that made little money and was just barely able to keep himself clothed, fed, and sheltered. He didn't have any family as both his parents had died when he was young. He'd spent the last ten years in various foster homes. This meant he was completely on his own now, but he didn't mind much. He'd been on his own for years, to be honest. His last few foster homes had been hard to make connections in, so he ended up just not trying. Connections to others were something he could do without. He went about his various jobs, meeting new people but not really making friends. He knew all these jobs were as temporary as his foster parents had been. There really was no point.

Then he came across an ad for a company called Fairy Tail Enterprises which was hiring cam models. He had no idea what a cam model did, but it sounded better than washing dishes or making hamburgers. A little research revealed exactly what they did, and he almost thought better of it. He wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of being practically to fully nude on camera and talking to people watching him. The money promised was good, though, and the one thing he did have was a good laptop with a webcam. It wasn't like it was that much different than his own exhibitionist streak that used to get him in trouble. So that's how he ended up calling the phone number.

He found out quickly that Fairy Tail Enterprises was run by a man named Makarov Dreyer. Gray had an online interview for a position, and to his surprise, he got hired. He hadn't thought it would be that easy. In fact, all he'd done was answer a few basic questions and take off his shirt. He was told that he could do whatever he wanted on camera, as long as it was something that entertained and interested the audience.

Makarov ran the company as though it were a bunch of family, calling the people that worked for him his kids. Gray didn't think it would matter; he didn't plan on making friends with the other people that worked there. Still, Makarov insisted that everyone become a part of a larger cam community group. He would be able to chat and message anyone on the site. He still figured that he wouldn't really make connections with anyone.

He decided to do ice play. He'd always had a resistance to the cold, and the application of ice on his skin didn't really bother him. It was something unique, and he thought that it might get him viewers. Viewers meant money.

The way the company was set up was pretty simple. Each cam model had a room on the site where the public could enter and chat with them. Then they could see an example video of the model. This video was generally tame and clothed. Then, if the person wanted to see more, they had to pay to get into the next level chat room. Here, they could chat and watch as the model did their show. If the customer wanted a private chat and show, there was another fee for that. The aim was to get watchers to that level, where they performed the most erotic part of their show.

The amount of money he could make depended completely on how many paying customers he got each day. That meant if he wanted to get the most, he had to take as many people to the private show as possible. Soon, he was set up on the websites and ready to go. He would be placed on the opening page for the first two weeks, to try and generate an initial interest. After that, he would have to work to get featured on the front page again. He'd chosen the name Winter_Born.

One of the things that Makarov insisted on was joining a larger online community for cam models. It wasn't only for those that worked for Fairy Tail Enterprises. Gray thought it might be a good idea to get to know other people in the industry, especially if he wanted to succeed. He had to make at least what he was making at his part time jobs, so he had to work at it.

The day before his first show, he logged onto the community chat for the first time just after sunset.

 **Winter_Born** _has joined the chat._  
 **Celestialkey:** Hey. You're new here!  
 **Red_Knight:** Welcome. What company are you with?  
 **Winter_Born:** Um, hi there. I'm starting with Fairy Tail Enterprises. Tomorrow is my first show.  
 **Celestialkey:** Oh that's awesome. We're with them too. It's a good company to work for. Makarov is a great guy.  
 **Winter_Born:** Are there many of these cam companies?  
 **Red_Knight:** Quite a few. You'll meet all sorts of cam folks.  
 **DarkF** _has joined the chat.  
_ **LightningMan** _has joined the chat.  
_ **Celestialkey:** Hey, guys. How are you two tonight? We got a newbie!  
 **DarkF:** We're okay. Had one of the stranger requests on my show tonight.  
 **DarkF:** Hi there newbie.  
 **Winter_Born:** Strange requests?  
 **Celestialkey:** Yeah, there are times when the viewers ask for things that are WAY out there.  
 **Red_Knight:** Even the most willing cam model has things they won't do, even for the views or the money.  
 **DragonSpark** _has joined the chat.  
_ **Celestialkey:** Sparky, hey. You gonna talk tonight or just lurking?  
 **DragonSpark:** I dunno.  
 **Iron_Fox** _has joined the chat.  
_ **Iron_Fox:** What's up?  
 **Celestialkey:** Dark was about to tell us about the weirdo he had tonight.  
 **Iron_Fox:** I had one of those too… weird mother fuckers.  
 **Winter_Born:** Just curious…are you guys or girls in here?  
 **Celestialkey:** Both. I'm a girl. Red is too. Dark, Lightning, and Fox are all guys though. U?  
 **Winter_Born:** I'm a guy. I thought most of the people that did this were girls before I got hired.  
 **Embermane** _has joined the chat._  
 **Celestialkey:** Ember! You came tonight!  
 **Embermane:** Yeah, how's everyone tonight?  
 **Celestialkey:** Fine, we were talking about the weirdos with the new guy.  
 **Embermane:** Hi there new guy.  
I get the weird ones all the time.  
 **Iron_Fox:** I had one tonight that wanted me to stick a knife somewhere it don't go. O.o  
 **Red_Knight:** You get those piercing fetish ones. Those are really weird.  
 **Iron_Fox:** I've had them ask me to sound with things that ain't getting used. I don't fucking use anything that's dirty. Ugh. But still they ask.  
 **Embermane:** The boob fetishists are bad too.  
I think the oddest thing I've had was being asked to put things in my cleavage.  
Weird stuff, like toilet paper rolls.  
Then once this guy asked if I could crush a can with my breasts.  
I had to tell him while that would be cool, I could not.  
 **Red_Knight:** I had this one, just the other day. Asked me to do all sorts of degrading things I would never do and write slut on my forehead. Then he gets mad when I say no and tries to tell me he's my "master" and I should do whatever he says.  
 **Celestialkey:** What was your weird one, Dark?  
 **DarkF:** Oh nothing real weird. Wanted me to do weird stuff with my hair. :P  
 **Celestialkey:** I've had them ask for really weird object insertion items…stuff I'm like nope!  
 **Winter_Born:** Are there a lot of these weirdos or just happen now and then?  
 **Iron_Fox:** Just depends on the day, man. Some days no weirdos, others all the weirdos are on.  
 **Red_Knight:** Well, been lovely, but I have an early day tomorrow. Night all!  
 **Celestialkey:** Good night!  
 **Iron_Fox:** See ya laterz.  
 **Red_Knight** _has left the chat.  
_ **Celestialkey:** So Winter, any questions about stuff?  
 **Winter_Born:** I don't know yet. I haven't had my first show!  
 **Iron_Fox:** What's your deal?  
 **Winter_Born:** my deal?  
 **Iron_Fox:** Yeah what do you do on camera?  
 **Winter_Born:** Oh! Ice play rn.  
 **KeepGoing** _has joined the chat.  
_ **KeepGoing:** _*flops on the floor in exhaustion*_ What doing tonight?  
 **Celestialkey:** Just talking about weird requests and questions with our newbie, Winter.  
 **KeepGoing:** Well, hi Winter. I'm Estrella. I do wrestling and I get strange ones now and then too.  
 **Iron_Fox:** What's your weirdest one  
 **KeepGoing:** Had this backwoods type ask if I could wrestle a bear or an alligator. Wasn't a creeper, just didn't understand what kind of wrestling I do.  
 **Winter_Born:** What kind of wrestling is that?  
 **KeepGoing:** I do clothed female, nude male wrestling.  
Other than that, I've had a marriage proposal or two…  
 **Celestialkey:** I've had those too! They're often from outside the USA too. I think they just want to get a green card.  
 **Embermane:** Gods yes.  
They don't like no either.  
The lonely guys are kinda sad when they ask though.  
 **LightningMan:** I got a marriage proposal once from a chick.  
 **Celestialkey:** You are here, was beginning to think you two fell asleep!  
 **LightningMan:** Nah, we're both here still.  
But I felt bad for the lady when she asked.  
I had to explain I was with Dark already.  
She seemed awful lonely.  
Still not as weird as the cough guy.  
 **Winter_Born:** Cough guy?  
 **LightningMan:** Weird as hell.  
Guy had a fetish for coughing.  
Got his attention one time when I had a bad case of bronchitis.  
 **DarkF:** On that note, we should be getting to sleep. Bye  
 **Celestialkey:** Bye guys, have a good night!  
 **LightningMan** _has left the chat.  
_ **DarkF** _has left the chat.  
_ **Miss_Tequila** _has joined the chat.  
_ **Celestialkey:** Hey, Missy! Been a while since you've been on.  
 **Miss_Tequila:** yeah had some rl stuff come up. Been away for a week or smth like that.  
 **Celestialkey:** Oh I hope everything is alright. You missed Lightning and Dark just barely.  
 **Iron_Fox:** you didn't get drunk and sleep through your shows again did ya?  
 **Miss_Tequila:** That happened once.  
I can handle my liquor.  
 **Celestialkey:** We have a newbie tonight, hasn't even done his first show!  
 **Miss_Tequila:** welcome to the jungle. Have you ever done this before?  
 **Winter_Born:** No, this will be my first time doing this  
But I've never had a problem taking off my clothes  
Used to get me in trouble when I was younger  
 **Iron_Fox:** Well this is more than just strippin man. Gotta be entertaining to get the views. Guys gotta work a little harder to get watchers than the girls. We got less of a fanbase to work with.  
 **Embermane:** It was good to meet you Winter.  
I've got a show to do!  
Bye!  
 **Embermane** _has left the chat.  
_ **KeepGoing:** You'll do fine I bet. Do you have a plan for your show yet?  
 **Winter_Born:** Well, I was thinking of going slow at first and doing things with ice and stuff.  
 **KeepGoing:** _nods_ That sounds like smth new  
 **Celestialkey: DragonSpark** you still here or did you drop off?  
 **DragonSpark:** I'm here.  
 **Celestialkey:** One of these days I'll get you to talk to us. That's my mission.  
 **DragonSpark:** …  
 **Celestialkey:** I should really go to sleep tonight at some point.  
 **KeepGoing:** You should get some sleep love. Don't you have a double feature tomorrow  
 **Celestialkey:** Yeah. So goodnight all you guys. Hopefully see you again soon, Winter.  
 **Celestialkey** _has left the chat.  
_ **Winter_Born:** It was good to meet every one. Do you guy ever like meet in rl?  
 **Iron_Fox:** Yeah, we do lunch dates sometimes with each other. You live here in LA?  
 **Winter_Born:** Yeah, actually just moved here not long ago.  
I should get some sleep thought. It's getting late.  
 **Iron_Fox:** Stay safe. Don't whatever you do agree to meet anyone rl no matter how much they pay.  
That's how we end up dead.  
 **KeepGoing:** Yeah, and go with your gut if something feels off. Better safe than sorry.  
 **Winter_Born:** I'll keep that in mind. Night everyone.  
 **Winter_Born** _has left the chat._

Gray exited the chat app and felt a little better having talked to others in the job. It made him realize that there were people behind those usernames though. Curious he went to the main page and found that each username was linked to a profile. From there, it was just a simple click to get to their company page and see the sample videos. He clicked on Celestialkey. He found her to be a bouncy looking blonde girl. That fit with her personality, he thought. Lucy was her name. Only one name was given whether first name or stage name, it didn't say. Red_Knight was a woman with bright red hair and a severe gaze. Her name was Erza. He figured he should check out some of the guys. DarkF was named Freed and had really long green colored hair. Well, that explained the hair thing. LightningMan was a blonde with a scar over his right eye that looked like a bolt of lightning. His name was Laxus. Gajeel was Iron_Fox, and he had facial piercings. No wonder he got some weird ones. So far everyone was working for Fairy Tail Enterprises.

He clicked over to KeepGoing and found she worked for a different company, Leviathan Incorporated. Her name was listed as Estrella. He found that Embermane, a redhead named Ashana, also worked for Leviathan. She had really big breasts.

He'd missed the last one to come in, Miss_Tequila, he realized. He clicked over to her and saw she was a dark-haired woman with bigger breasts named Cana. She was also Fairy Tail Enterprises. He almost clicked out of the page before he remembered he missed another one. He scrolled back and saw this DragonSpark who had only talked a couple of times in the entire chat. He clicked on him and found he worked for a company called Tartaros. When he clicked on that site it was decidedly darker than the other ones.

He found that his name was Natsu, and he was a guy that looked about his age with cotton candy pink hair. He had a show about to start. Gray thought, what the heck, he'd go in the public room and see what all he did.

The room was rather full, he found and there was a lot of chatting going on as he sat down in front of the camera. Gray couldn't tell much about the background where he was sitting, as though he'd dressed the area to use as a backdrop. He supposed that he might have to think of doing something like that. He watched as the commenters got vulgar right away. He barely responded to those that said something. Every time he did respond, it seemed to always be the same phrases repeated. "Thank you for coming", "Pay to see more", and "I'll do more for the next tier". He took off his shirt and Gray looked at him for a long time before it clicked what was wrong. Scars. He had scars all over his chest and arms. Some were pinkish and very new, others were whiter and old.

He picked up a knife and showed the camera, then ran the blade against his skin on his arm. It wasn't enough to cut himself, but it was subtly erotic. There were a slew of vulgarities thrown at him on the chat to which he responded with "Pay to see more" again. Gray was curious enough that he created an account and logged into it so he could pay for the next tier and see exactly what this guy was doing. By the time he got back to the page, Natsu had already gone to the private chat level. There were other chatting people there making comments about him and it just seemed rather rude on the whole the way they treated him. Gray hoped it wasn't like that in his room the next day.

He clicked and was allowed into the private chat. Here, there were less people, but they were no less vulgar and demanding of him. He frowned as he watched Natsu's eyes move past the camera off to the side. He swallowed hard enough to be heard through the microphone. He then picked up the knife he had and started to cut a line down his forearm. It was along another scar that was already there. Gray wondered, though, because he really didn't look like he was into what he was doing. Then he kept looking up and to the left of the camera off to the side.

The knife flashed in the dim lighting of the room he was in and he switched hands to begin cutting a line down his other forearm. The people in the chat were demanding he take off the rest of his clothes already and "do the legs". Again, he looked up and over to the left and back to the camera. He nodded and did as they asked, slipping a pair of loose sweatpants off and sitting there with nothing on and Gray could see his thighs were marked with scars too. He started cutting a line into one of his legs and then the popup appeared asking if Gray wanted to pay for more time. He wanted to continue watching, but he also couldn't spend a ton of money watching someone else's cam show.

Instead, he went back to the chat area and found the private messaging feature. He had noticed Celestialkey, or Lucy, had seemed concerned about him. And now Gray was too. He brought up the message box.

 _Hey, I know we just met tonight, but I was concerned about the one that goes by DragonSpark. I saw his show and it's pretty grisly. Do you know anything about the guy?_

He had no idea if she would even answer him. But sure enough, about five minutes went by and he got a return private message.

 _I don't know much about him. He never really talks in the chatroom. I've seen his show before. He's one of the few models that does knife and blood play on screen. He gets a lot of views for it._

Gray frowned and wasn't sure what he thought. Knife and bloodplay? It sure didn't look like he was that into what he was doing. And who or what was he looking at off screen? He wasn't sure at all now. He didn't know that cam models did stuff like that. He was willing to play with ice for the audience, but that wasn't dangerous at all. He couldn't imagine taking the steps to actually cut himself for the camera. It reminded him about what had been said in the chat. That there were things a cam model just wouldn't do, no matter the money or the views it got. But what about when someone was doing something already that far out there? He had a hard time believing that this Natsu was doing this because he enjoyed it. He looked sad and pained at best. Now, though, Gray wasn't sure what to do.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Natsu sat in the bathroom bandaging the new cuts from tonight. He hadn't cut deep enough, they said. He should have bled more, they said. He wasn't good enough again, they said. He angrily fisted tears out of his eyes. What they said all the time was so heavy on his shoulders that he thought he might just break.

There was a knock on the door. He looked up, a little panicked. Had he been in here too long? He swallowed and called out.

"Almost done."

He quickly finished putting the bandages on his thighs and slipped back into his sweats before he came out of the bathroom to find that Torafuzar was standing there. The tall, hulking man always reminded Natsu of a shark or a lizard for some reason. He cleared his throat and looked up at him. He didn't know what to say, because there wasn't much _to_ say. He ducked his head and tried not to flinch when the bigger man grabbed him by the arm. He watched as one of the other girls was taken to the film room. He didn't know her name. In fact, he didn't know anyone else's name that worked for Tartaros. Worked, what a joke.

When they got to his door, Torafuzar opened it and shoved him inside the room. He stumbled a bit and went to sit on the cot that was the only real thing in the room. He sighed and waited for them to bring him his pills for the night. It was the only way he could sleep. Soon enough, the door opened again and a bedraggled looking woman came in with a cup of water and a pill in her hand. She gave both to him, and he took it gratefully. Anything to help him sleep was welcome in this place.

He laid back on the cot and pulled the threadbare blanket over him. He waited patiently for the drug to hit his system. As soon as his brain started to float, he started to fall asleep. As usual his dreams were of before he started this life and how he got here.

He'd been sixteen when he ran into the man named Mard Geer Tartaros. He was a nice-looking man with a suit and tie. He often came down to the places where the orphans and runaways hung out. Natsu had seen him before, but never paid him much attention. He would show up and someone from the group would disappear, not coming back. Then he approached him and asked if he wanted to make some money. Natsu had been scrounging and stealing where he could after his last foster parents kicked him out of the house. He'd asked him if he wanted to work for him and his cam company. He told Natsu he had the look he was looking for, and he could make a lot.

Natsu took the offer because he was tired of being on the streets without family or purpose. He thought that this Tartaros sounded like he could offer him something worthwhile and all he had to do was do a show in front of a webcam. He could do that easy.

At first, it wasn't bad. The shows were strip teases and the viewers were generally good people who paid to watch him. He didn't have the vulgar ones until later. The longer he worked, the more demanding the viewers got in insisting he remove more of his clothing. He was getting uncomfortable with the idea of going all the way nude in front of the camera when Mard Geer offered him a pill to help calm his nerves. Not really thinking about it, he'd taken it, and that was the beginning of his downslide. Soon he couldn't go on camera without taking the pills. Then he couldn't sleep without them. Then, he brought up the knife. Mard Geer had told him that to keep getting his pills and keep a place to stay, he was going to use the knife to cut himself on camera.

He said no the first time, but then he cut off the pills he was taking and he couldn't stand it. He held out for a couple days, but he needed the pills or else he was going to go out of his mind. So, he agreed. He honestly didn't have much choice by then. Then, it became the norm for him. The cutting was what the viewers wanted to see. They wanted to see the blood drip from the fresh wounds, and they wanted to see him in pain because of it. These people were cruel and disturbingly crass. They liked it only when Natsu was completely vulnerable to them.

He remembered a long time ago, before the foster homes, before everything, when he was with one person who loved and took care of him, a man named Igneel. He'd died when he was young and left him to the whims of a system that cared very little for those in it. He tried to explain to them that the homes they sent him to were not good, but they wouldn't listen to him.

So, here he was. He had to do what they said or else he would have nowhere to go, and he couldn't get his pills anymore. He knew he was trapped, but there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. No one would help him, and no one would care. He was lost and alone in a world too big for him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Mard Geer Tartaros sat at the head of the conference table and looked around. Tempester and Jackal sat to his right and left, several of his "enforcers" on either side and Kyôka sat at the other end. She smiled down at him as everyone settled into place.

"What has the revenue been looking like lately?" Mard Geer asked, glancing to his right to Tempester.

The blond-haired man nodded. "It looks like we've been getting a good stream from our current bunch of workers. May need to replace a few, soon. They're getting too scarred up to be able to work in front of the camera much longer. One of the boys, and two of the girls for sure. Maybe a couple others."

"And the drug pipeline? Are we still secure with our dealers?" Mard Geer glanced down to the end of the table at Kyôka.

"So far, we're having no trouble getting what we need. There was a small discussion about price, but we quickly set that right with a visit from Keyes." Kyôka ran a hand through her greenish hair. "We have a new shipment coming in tomorrow."

Mard Geer nodded at her. "Good, good. Any other problems with the workers?"

Torafuzar shook his head. "The last one to get out of line was easy to put back in line after an ipecac treatment. We haven't had a lot of problems lately."

Jackal spoke up from beside Mard Geer. "We had a police officer snooping around down in the runaway spots we've been using to recruit. We were able to throw him off the trail of a couple of the girls we got recently."

"Very well. Anything else come up of importance?" he looked around the table to see if anyone had anything else to bring up. When no one said anything, he continued. "Determine which workers are becoming useless in front of the camera. Locate replacements first, before we get rid of them. Then contact the buyer and let them know we have a few for them. Keep the dealer happy, but don't let him take us for more than what we're buying is worth. I like dealing with this guy, so far, he hasn't tried to jack up prices on us." He paused and looked down at the enforcers. "Make sure this police officer stays off the trail. We don't need someone snooping around just as we are acquiring new workers."

He stood up and flipped his hair over his shoulder. "Everything seems to be running smooth. Let's keep it that way. Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

Gray was worried still about this Natsu. He kept thinking about it even as his own showtime came closer. He had to put it out of his mind, though. He needed to do his own show, and as his first one, it had to be good. He'd frozen a few shapes in ice and had several trays of cubes ready. He'd pulled his small refrigerator close to the computer so he could easily get fresh ice. He was a little nervous of course, being his first time and all. He sat down in front of the computer and looked behind him. He'd turned the computer, so he was in front of a bare wall with good lighting around him. Luckily, he didn't put things up on the wall in his place, so it worked out for him.

He followed the directions to set up the room and everything. Now, he just had to wait and see how many people came to the public room. He checked the time, and his show was set to start in half an hour, but he had no idea what to do if _no one_ came to the show.

It turned out that he was worried for nothing because several people popped into the chat. All of them had anonymous scrambled usernames so as not to identify them to anyone. Things were right away interesting.

 ** _User0032_** _: A newbie! What are you going to do for us? Ice play?_

 ** _User8339_** _: He's hot! Take off those clothes, baby boy. Let's see what's underneath._

 ** _User3432_** _: Tell me why I should pay for you honey_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: You want to see what I do with this ice, so you'll pay for the next tier._

He took a piece of ice and began to lick it and run it over his mouth and face sensually. There were more people in the room, several chatting over each other and he noticed they weren't vulgar like they had been in Natsu's room, but some were nearing it. He had no idea if they were men or women because of the masked usernames. There could be anyone in the public forum and he would have no way of knowing it.

 ** _User0032_** _: Hey you gonna show us more than that?_

 ** _User0098_** _: Come on, sweetie. You gotta give us more than that or I'm not paying._

 ** _User8339_** _: Baby boy, if you're gonna take it off, I'm coming to look if nothing else._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: You'll see more if you pay more. I'll take it all off for you then._

After a few more minutes of the same thing from various users, he announced he was going to the private room, and any who wanted to see more would have to pay to see it. He promised to give them a good show if they followed him in there. He clicked over to the private channel and waited in anticipation. Would anyone follow or would they decide he wasn't worth paying for? This was a moment of truth to see what happened and if he was going to be a success at this or not. And his first time getting naked on camera. He was a little nervous about that, but he supposed he had the body for it.

Usernames began popping up, some of those who had been talking in the public chat. They were paying! They were really paying to see more! He tried not to smile like a goof at that fact alone. He still had a show to pull off.

 ** _User8339_** _: Are you gonna sound for us, baby boy?_

 ** _User0452_** _: Show us the goods or I'll stop paying_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: I don't sound yet, sorry._

 ** _User0032_** _: Go on, do something._

Gray slipped his shirt off over his head and started running the ice along his chest, pausing to run it around the nipples, making them perk and gooseflesh began to break out on his body. No one was leaving, so apparently, they liked what he was doing. He kept it up for a little while until it was obvious they wanted him to go further.

 ** _User0452_** _: Come on, you can do it. Show us the rest._

 ** _User5900_** _: These newbies are so cute to watch! So shy!_

Gray nodded, sliding his loose jeans down off his hips, leaving him in the boxer shorts he wore underneath them. There was a flurry of excited responses on the chat and he tried to hide his smile. It was going well so far. He applied some fresh ice to his body and spent some time like that before they were demanding him to undress the rest of the way. He swallowed and knew that it was now or never. He slid the shorts down and started playing with the ice some more, to more interesting comments that were getting a little lewder as they went along. He was lucky that the ice didn't affect his ability to maintain himself.

 ** _User8839_** _: Baby Boy you were worth the money_

 ** _User0032_** _: Hey, hey, you ever do something with dry ice? Wouldn't that be awesome?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Um, no, not dry ice._

He went on until his time was up and people started leaving. He sat there as the screen blanked out and stared for a minute. So that was it. He'd done his first show. People had paid to see him take off his clothes and play with ice. He pulled his shorts back on and decided to check in on the chat room with the others. He was too hyped to even think of going to sleep.

 ** _Winter_Born_** _has joined the chat._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Winter! I saw part of your show!_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: I guess I did okay, I had people show up, right?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Oh, you did just fine! First times are always hard._

 ** _KeepGoing_** _: That's no doubt._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: So the ice went over well?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Yeah, it seemed to go over good._

 ** _LightningMan_** _: Any weirdos?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Just one who wanted to know if I'd use dry ice._

 _I said no._

 ** _DarkF_** _: Yeah, you'll get those that want you to do things like that._

 _Did you have a good turnout in the private room?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: I had about thirteen. Is that good?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: That's great for a first time!_

 ** _KeepGoing_** _: I did something with ice once._

 _It wasn't anything sexy though._

 ** _Red_Knight_** _: Oh yeah? What was it?_

 ** _KeepGoing_** _: It was this contest where you had to sit on a block of ice._

 _I actually won because the only guy to outlast me had a high fever and they disqualified him._

 _They said his fever made it easier for him to stand sitting on the ice so it wasn't fair._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _has entered the chat._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Sparky!_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Hey guys._

 ** _Red_Knight_** _: I have to go do a show. Catch you all later._

 ** _Red_Knight_** _has left the chat._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Sparky, Winter did his first show tonight!_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: I saw it. It was nice._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Thanks. I hope people come back for the next one._

 ** _LightningMan_** _: I'm sure they will. You gotta start small though._

 ** _DarkF_** _: I think my first shows only had eight or nine people in them._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: How many do you have now?_

 ** _DarkF_** _: Oh, usually around twenty or so most times._

 ** _1st_Sister_** _has entered the chat._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Sissy!_

 ** _1st_Sister_** _: Hey everyone._

 ** _LightningMan_** _: Haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?_

 ** _1st_Sister_** _: I had to take off for a while. Family stuff. You know how it is. But I'm back now._

 _CelestialKey: Oh! Winter, Sissy, Sparky, before you guys showed up we were talking about meeting up for lunch this week._

 ** _1st_Sister_** _: Oh I can't this week, but thanks for the offer._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Meet up for lunch?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Yeah, every once in a while we try to get together._

 _It's a lot of fun and we get to see each other rl._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: That sounds neat._

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _has entered the chat._

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _: Yo!_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Hey we were talking about meeting this week._

 _You down, foxy?_

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _: Yeah, I'm good for this week. Who else is coming?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: We're trying to get the newbie to come, but Lightning and Dark are coming, and maybe Red. Keepie hasn't decided yet. No one else has been by tonight._

 ** _KeepGoing_** _: I'll try to come. Same place as last time?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: Yeah, same place, same time._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Where and when?_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: I'll send you a PM with the info. We don't mention our meeting places in the open chat. You never know who might see it._

 _Sparky! Come on, you have to come this time!_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: I can't._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: You never can. :[_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: I'm sorry._

 ** _LightningMan_** _: Dark and I are going for the night. See you at the meet up._

 ** _DarkF_** _: Good night!_

 ** _LightningMan_** _has left the chat._

 ** _DarkF_** _has left the chat._

 ** _CelestialKey_** _: I'm starting to get tired. Tonight was my night off. I think I'm going to get to sleep. Goodnight all!_

 ** _CelestialKey_** _has left the chat._

 ** _KeepGoing_** _: I think I'm out, too. Good to talk to everyone!_

 ** _KeepGoing_** _has left the chat._

 ** _1st_Sister_** _: Everyone else is going, I should too. I have an early day tomorrow. Good to meet you Winter._

 ** _1st_Sister_** _has left the chat._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Wow everyone had to leave._

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _: Some nights are like that. Some nights there's no one on here._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Have you done this for very long?_

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _: Yeah, couple years now. I make enough that I don't have to have another job. But I should get some sleep myself. I'll talk to you at the meet up._

 ** _Iron_Fox_** _has left the chat._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Sparky?_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Yeah?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: I just wanted to see if you were still here. I saw some of your show the other day._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Did you like it?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Uh well it was interesting._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Your show was nice._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Thanks. You should go to this meetup. It would be cool to meet you._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: I can't leave._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: You can't leave? Leave where?_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: I meant I can't leave the house to go there. I just can't._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: I see. Hey, I gotta sleep. Send me a PM if you want to talk._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Talk?_

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Yeah, if you ever want to talk. Do you log into the site on your phone?_

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Yeah, I have to. I can't use the computer all the time._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _: Okay, so do I. Good night._

 ** _DragonSpark_** _: Goodnight._

 ** _Winter_Born_** _has left the chat._

Gray exited the chat and felt a bit of worry. He wondered about Natsu. The things he said were weird. The whole not being able to leave was strange, and that he couldn't use the computer all the time. He wondered what was up with that. At least he had a phone, though. He set up the notifications to ping when he got a private message. Somehow, he knew he was going to get one from him.

As if on cue, the next night, he got a private message. He opened it up.

 _I guess I could say something to you. I'm pretty lonely tonight._

Gray smiled a little. At least he was reaching out, that was something.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The meetup day happened that week, and Gray was looking forward to seeing these people he'd talked to in the chat. He got to the coffee shop early and got himself a latte. He sat down at the table that she'd told him they always sat at. After a few minutes, he looked up to see the blond-haired guy and the guy with long, green hair. They were easy to recognize. They got drinks and made their way back to the table.

"Hey. You're the newbie," the blond said. "I'm Laxus, and this is Freed."

"Gray," he responded and shook hands with each of them in turn.

"So, you two are a couple, and you both do the cam stuff, huh?" Gray asked.

Laxus nodded, sipping his drink. "We've both been in it for a few years. We actually met through these meetups. Things kind of went from there," he said.

A few seconds later, the bouncy blonde girl he'd seen. She got her own drink and came over.

"Laxus! Freed! How are you guys?" she asked as she sat down. She leaned over and offered her hand to Gray. "I'm Lucy!"

"Gray," he answered and smiled.

"I think KeepGoing, or Estrella, is coming. Oh, there she is."

Gray looked up and saw her. She was an athletic looking woman with short dark hair and deeply tanned skin. As she got her order and came over, Gray noted that she wore an octopus necklace.

"Hi, everyone!" she said as she sat down.

"Estrella, this is Gray," Lucy introduced.

Estrella reached over and shook hands with him and took a drink of her coffee. "Nice to meet you, newbie," she said with a smirk.

"This is really nice, being able to see you in person," Gray said with a smile.

For a few minutes everyone just chatted about mundane things that had to do with their lives, nothing particularly interesting. Then Lucy looked a little sad and Gray frowned.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Was just thinking about Sparky. How he never comes to these things," she said softly.

"I've actually been talking to him through private messages," Gray said.

Laxus and Freed both put down their drinks and leaned in. "You actually got him to talk?" Laxus said.

"Yeah, I did. I mean, most of it is just shop talk. About the shows and stuff, but he seems really lonely from what I can tell. He's even admitted to feeling that way," Gray said with a soft smile. "I like to think that me talking to him makes him feel a little better."

"That's amazing, Gray!" Lucy said. "You're the first person we've ever gotten to talk to him successfully. That is, more than one or two word answers to stuff, you know."

"Kudos," Estrella said, tipping her coffee cup toward him. "I'm serious, that's a big deal. He's been there as long as I have and the most I've gotten out of him is a yes or no."

Freed sighed and looked down at his cup. "He's lonely, though. That's kind of sad, especially since he can't ever come to the meetups or anything."

Gray nodded. "I don't know, but there's some reason behind that, and I don't know what it is. It seems like there's something going on there and I just don't know what it is."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, sweeping a hand through her hair and pulling it behind her ear on the right side.

"Well, he can't leave the house, he says. Can't. Not doesn't want to, but can't. So, I feel like someone is making him do something he doesn't want to do. And he can't get on the computer often, so he has to use a phone. Why doesn't he always have access to the computer? Is there a reason?"

Everyone was quiet as they thought it over for a minute. "That does seem strange," Lucy said. "I worry about him, but I'm glad he's at least reaching out to you. That's more than the rest of us have been able to do for him."

The discussion traveled away from the topic, and to other talk about what they did. Gray had done a couple more shows since his first, and had really gotten into what he was doing, so he jumped right into the conversation about it. Despite being the newbie, they treated him the same as the others. He really liked everyone and he was glad he'd gone when everyone split up to go home.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Natsu was scared. They told him not to do his show and there was going to be someone else taking his place. The idea that he was being replaced was at the forefront of his mind. What would happen to him if he couldn't do shows? What would Mard Geer do with him? He wrung his hands and looked around the room as he tried to keep his breath even. He was starting to panic, but perhaps that was the fact he hadn't been given any of his pills today. That was another reason he was starting to worry.

The door opened and he saw it was Torafuzar. He felt his heart clench in his chest as he looked up at him.

"Come on," Torafuzar said and motioned Natsu to come to him.

Natsu swallowed hard and went to reach for the plain phone he kept and Torafuzar growled. "You won't need that."

Torafuzar led him to Mard Geer's office. Natsu had only been there a couple times since he'd been brought into this place. He went in and saw another man sitting in front of the large desk. Mard Geer sat behind the desk and looked up at him as he entered the room.

"Natsu," he said, a smile splitting his face. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Zancrow."

Mard Geer gestured to the other man. Natsu stared at him for a minute, seeing he was an average size man with lots of long, wild, blond hair. He smiled at him too and stood up, moving closer to him. He reached out and tipped Natsu's face up and looked over at Mard Geer.

"He's perfect, as I thought he'd be. You say he's only ever been used on the camera for the scenes?" Zancrow said, eyes focused on Natsu's.

"He's otherwise pristine," Mard Geer said. "Ideal for you, I imagine. He's on benzodiazepines; they keep him mellow and easy to deal with."

Zancrow put one hand against Natsu's face and then slapped him. "Good, you'll be mine to do whatever I like with, understand me, boy?"

Natsu swallowed hard and began to get what was going on. "I've been sold to him," he finally said quietly.

"You're astute, Natsu. You've always been a good one. But yes. You've reached your end of your entertainment use. Your body is far too marked and scarred to be interesting. The viewers want fresh, unmarred flesh to bleed for them. You are easily replaced, but of course I have to do something with you. Zancrow here will provide you with your pills as you desire, in return you are his to do whatever he wants."

Natsu nodded, looking at the other man suspiciously. Whatever he wanted? The question was, what exactly was he going to want? He had no idea, but he needed his pills, so he had to do what he told him to do. Otherwise, he wouldn't get them.

"Now, you may take him, Zancrow. Please, enjoy him at the fullest," Mard Geer said with a grin.

Zancrow grabbed Natsu by the arm and yanked him out of the room roughly. Natsu tried to keep up with him so he didn't yank on him. He blinked at the light as they stepped out of the dark building. There was a car at the curb and Zancrow opened the door to let him get in. He didn't say anything as he drove him to another building. It was getting dark as he did so, and Natsu felt his stomach twist in fear about what this was going to entail.

They pulled into a parking garage and without a word, he pulled Natsu out of the car and jerked him toward an elevator. He stared at the floor as they rode the elevator. They came out into a long hallway with a lot of doors that all looked the same. Natsu kept close to him as he went to the door with a number 438 on it. Zancrow opened the door and pushed Natsu inside. The first thing Natsu realized was it was warm inside the room.

"Sit down in the living room," Zancrow told him as he shoved him in the direction of the room.

Natsu walked into the living room and found a pair of couches situated around an unlit fireplace. He swallowed hard an sat down on the larger of the two couches and stared at the dark, empty fireplace.

"Here," Zancrow said and handed Natsu a pair of pills. Natsu swallowed them down without a drink easily enough.

He watched as Zancrow went about starting a fire in the fireplace. Before long, he had it going and the warmth from it was nearly uncomfortable. He swallowed thickly and willed the pills to kick in soon because he needed them right now. Zancrow brought out a box with something in it and turned on the light nearby, illuminating the room now. Natsu could see the couches were plain and beige, and the walls were devoid of any pictures or decorations.

"Strip," he said, turning around and looking at him.

"What?" Natsu asked, heart starting to pound in his chest.

"You heard me, strip."

Natsu nodded and stood up. He pulled off the dingy t-shirt first and then pulled off the loose shorts he was wearing. He didn't have any underwear. He didn't have much modesty anymore, so he just stared at the floor at Zancrow's feet.

"I've watched you for a while. While the cutting is nice, and watching you bleed is interesting, I have some ideas for something a little more fun." He held up some sort of wand that had some sort of fabric or something at the end of it. He then took another one and pushed it into the fireplace to light it on fire. "This is more my speed."

Natsu had no idea what he intended to do with those, and he just wanted his pills to kick in before whatever it was started. He didn't know what to think of this, but he had to do whatever he asked.

"Lay down here on the floor," Zancrow said and gestured to the floor in front of the fireplace.

Swallowing hard again, Natsu went and laid down like he said. He watched as he took the unlit wand and swiped it across his chest. It was wet and cold, and it smelled funny to him. Then, to his shock, Zancrow touched the wand that was on fire to it, and whatever the liquid was began to burn on his skin. At first it felt just kind of warm then it started to burn his skin until he swiped his hand over the fire, putting it out. He was breathing hard as he did it again. Most the time, he swiped the fire out before it hurt much, but a few times he waited a bit too long and he felt the fire start to burn his skin. He did it on his chest several times, then made him turn over so he could do it on his back as well.

"Beautiful," Zancrow said as he smirked down at him. "It works just like they said it would."

Natsu wanted to know who had told him about this, and why they would do something like this. He put out the wand that was on fire. Then he held up some sort of wire. Natsu thought it looked like clothes hanger or something. He watched as he put it in the fire and had an oven mitt on his hand where he was holding it in there. He then pulled it out and it glowed from the heat. He grinned at Natsu.

"Don't scream, or I'll cut your throat," he said and Natsu's eyes went wide as he pressed the red-hot metal against his chest on the right side.

He tried to not make any noise, but it really hurt as he held it against him. Finally, he lifted it and Natsu panted, starting to feel the effects of his pills, though. That was good. That was very good. He turned his head and stared into the fire for a minute until he was being pulled to his feet.

"Come on, now," Zancrow said as he yanked him toward another room. Natsu stumbled a little but followed him. "Lay down there," he said.

Natsu saw they were in the bedroom. He moved over to the bed and got into it, his chest and back burning still. Where he'd used the hanger on him was throbbing. He stared at the ceiling and wondered exactly what else he would be expected to do. He felt the bed dip beside him, and he looked over to see Zancrow had taken off his clothes and he guessed what was expected of him now.

"Please," Natsu tried. "I don't want to—"

"You don't have a choice," he interrupted. "You are mine, remember? I paid good money for you, and I'll get that money's worth out of you, one way or another. You honestly think playing with a little fire is all I wanted? That was just the foreplay," he said, grinning at him.

Then, his hands were on him, smoothing over his chest, pausing at the places that were still warm and burning to the touch. Natsu tried to let his mind float, but it was hard to do with the pain he was in already. Then, when he began exploring him down below, he almost tried to get up. The reaction was instantaneous, though. As soon as he started trying to resist, Zancrow moved and struck him across the face hard. Natsu whimpered and was quiet once again.

He climbed up over him, and Natsu sated up into his face as he slammed forward into him. Natsu arched, trying not to cry out, but he couldn't help it. Again, he was hit for yelling and he bit down on his knuckle while Zancrow thrust into him. He couldn't help the small whimpering sounds he made but he didn't make any more loud noises until he was finished. He was panting and had tears in his eyes as he turned away from him as he got up from the bed.

Zancrow was gone for a few minutes, then he came back over and looked at him.

"On the floor, you don't sleep in my bed," he growled.

Natsu got up and move down on the floor on the other side of the room where he'd at least given him a pillow and a cover. Natsu laid down and curled up under the cover. He tried to sleep but he couldn't. No matter what he tried, he was in too much pain. He had no idea how long it had been but he didn't want to live like this. This wasn't right. He heard light snoring from Zancrow and he got up quietly. He walked over to the bed and saw that on the table beside him was his cell phone. Would he help him?

He picked up the phone and logged into the group website. He just had to hope he was awake. He didn't know what to say, but he knew he had few choices.

 _Can you help me?_ He typed it out and stared for a minute before he sent the message. He sat down on the floor beside the table and clutched the phone in the dark.

He was about to give up when the message icon came up again. _What do you need?_

 _Please, I don't know what to do. I'm in trouble and I need help._ He didn't know what he would say.

 _Where are you? Can you get somewhere I can come pick you up?_ Came the reply.

Natsu let out a breath. He hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going in the car, but he thought he remembered passing a diner named Stacy's.

 _I'll be outside Stacy's Diner. I don't know how long it will take for me to walk there._

 _I'll be there. Can you message me when you get there?_

 _I don't have my phone. I'm using someone else's. I can't take it with me._

 _Okay I'll see you soon._

Natsu logged out and replaced the phone. He swallowed nervously as he got up and went in the living room to find his clothes. He got dressed quickly and then quietly unlocked and opened the door. He thought he could find his way out of the building. He got out the door and made it to the elevator. He pushed the button for the ground floor and was in the main lobby of the building. He headed for the door and began to go back the way he'd been driven. Eventually, after what felt like forever, he saw the diner. He walked to it and found a car sitting in front of the place. Was that him?

The door opened and someone Natsu recognized from the cam videos he'd watched stepped out. He remembered his name had been Gray. It was him; he'd come. He sped up, arms over his chest tightly, and walked up to him.

"Hey," Gray said. He had a confused look on his face.

"I'm sorry for contacting you at this time of night," Natsu said, looking down. "I shouldn't have gotten you involved. But I didn't know anyone else to contact."

"It's okay," Gray told him. "Come on, get in. You look tired."

Natsu nodded and got in the other side of the car. He sat down, wincing as he reached over to grab the seatbelt.

"Are you alright?" Gray asked, obviously having noticed the wince.

"It's a long story," Natsu said softly. "I just want to get anywhere else," he explained.

"Alright, we'll go to my place, and you can get some sleep," Gray said and pulled out from the parking space and drove off.


End file.
